Chain Rhyme

Chain rhyme is the linking together of stanzas by carrying a rhyme over from one stanza to the next.

A number of verse forms use chain rhyme as an integral part of their structures. One example is terza rima, which is written in tercets with a rhyming pattern a-b-a, b-c-b, c-d-c. Another is the virelai ancien, which rhymes a-a-b-a-a-b, b-b-c-b-b-c, c-c-d-c-c-d.

Other verse forms may also use chain rhyme. For instance, quatrains can be written to the following pattern: a-a-b-a, b-b-c-b, c-c-d-c.

There are a few well-known examples of chain rhyme in world literature. In the Persian language, chain rhyme is almost exclusively devoted to the poetic form of the Rubaiyat: a poem that makes use of quatrains with the rhyme scheme AABA. Though not necessarily chain rhyme, the Rubiyat form has been mimicked throughout the world. Robert Frost made use of Rubaiyat in chain rhyme form in his poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

Chain rhyme also known as “chain verse or interlocking rhyme" is a type of poetic technique where the poet uses the last syllable of a line and repeats it as the first syllable of the line following. Although the syllable is repeated, it carries a different meaning. The word “chain” is defined as a series of things connected or following in succession. The repetition of a word from a verse of stanza following the next creates a chain like connection between the lines.

Rhymes are pleasing to the ears and help to distinguish similarities and differences. It helps the poet to shape the poem and the reader to understand it; creating a link between sound and thought.

Example

An example of chain rhyme is the poem by French Anonymous called “Untitled”

Untitled by French Anonymous

Nerve thy soul with doctrines noble,

Noble in the walks of time,

Time that leads to an eternal,

An eternal life sublime.

Life sublime in moral beauty,

Beauty that shall never be;

Ever be to lure thee onward,

Onward to the fountain free.

Free to every earnest seeker,

Seeker for the fount of youth;

Youth exultant in its beauty,

Beauty of the living truth.

References

Bradley, A. (2009). Book of rhymes: The poetics of hip hop. New York: Basic civitas books pp 75–78 .

Preminger, A. & Warnke, F.J. & Hardison, O.B. (1965). Princeton encyclopedia of poetry and poetics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Lansing, G. (2008). Rhythm and harmony in poetry and music. Dyson Press.